Dedication: A Thirty Kisses Collection
by Raigekijin
Summary: These are all my ficlets submitted for the livejournal fiction challenge 30 kisses. The pairing I chose was Gekkou Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao, and I will put each theme up as I complete them.
1. Look Over Here

**Thirty Kisses Theme 01 - Look Over Here**

"Hey, look over here!" One of the children called, immediately garnering the attention of the entire playground on their first day at the ninja academy. One by one they all gathered beside the boy, following his gaze to whatever had caught his eye. A huddled figure lay in the grass beside the monkey bars, coughing as if its lungs were bursting. All of the children simply stared, watching in fascination as the boy, a member of their genin class, began to be wracked with shuddering coughing fits.

Yuugao began shouldering her way through the small crowd at the ninja academy playground, standing on her tiptoes to find out what was going on. The young girl was one of the top ranked children in their class, and garnered some respect among the other kids for being a leader. They finally let her through and she approached the boy on the ground, crouching beside him to check his breathing like her mother sometimes did at the hospital where she was a medi-nin.

"Hey! Someone go get Daikoku-sensei right now!" Yuugao said, turning the boy over onto his back and taking a handkerchief out of her pocket. She held it to his face and propped him up on her lap, patting him on the shoulder as a kind of consolation. She kept her head on her shoulders as three children suddenly broke from the group and went running towards the academy doors yelling for the sensei.

"I… need some water…" The boy suddenly said weakly between coughs. Yuugao glanced around until one of the onlookers offered up a half-drunk juice box. She held it to the boy's lips and watched as he took a few tentative sips, his cough easing slowly. She smiled a little as his breathing eased and their sensei approached.

"Okay, you're going to be fine." She told the boy, kissing him lightly on the forehead like her mother often did when she herself was sick. The boy smiled a little, a small twitch at the corner of his lips, as their sensei quickly picked him up and headed off to the infirmary with the boy coughing over his shoulder and still sipping cautiously from the juice box. That was the first time Uzuki Yuugao met Gekkou Hayate.


	2. News

**Thirty Kisses Theme 02 - News**

She was on patrol, and had been for the last ten hours, when she got the news. A chuunin came with the news, panting from exertion after working to catch up with the ANBU squad. The girl was maybe fifteen, and by the patch on her arm, a runner for the messenger unit.

"Commander." The girl maintained control over her breathing enough to speak. None of the squad stepped forward, for it was protocol not to acknowledge the ranks while on patrol. "This border patrol has been moved from code yellow to code orange."

"Code orange?" The lieutenant asked, his bird mask still and unmoving. The squad was waiting for an answer.

"Yes, sir. The Hokage had it moved up just now." The chuunin dipped her head to the lieutenant.

"On what grounds? The chuunin exam turns this area into neutral territory." The fifth strongest asked, his baboon mask comical and grinning.

"One of the chuunin examiners was found dead this morning at Kikyou Castle." The girl dipped her head now to the baboon.

Uzuki Yuugao, who had not spoken since the messenger appaeared, finally parted her lips to let words utter forth.

"Which examiner?" The girl looked up, having not expecting a voice from the commander, though it was her she was addressing.

"I… I'm afraid I do not know. I was not told." Yuugao's cat mask was stoic and calm.

"Of course. We have received your message. We're done here." The chuunin took a moment to breathe deeply before running off after the next ANBU squad.

Yuugao stood still, her shoulders square, her eyes closed. She could hear the silence as the rest of her squad waited for her orders. They knew what was going through her mind.

She'd kissed him goodbye before she left, a soft brush of lips, both smiling. If he were… if he had been the one…

"Commander…" Her lieutenant grabbed her arm. "Orders."

She opened her eyes. She couldn't afford to think such thoughts. It couldn't be him anyway.

"Move out."


	3. Jolt

**Thirty Kisses Theme 03 - Jolt**

Hayate followed Kabuto when he saw the gray haired medical ninja skulking about the boundaries of the chuunin exam building. He had gone into the offices to pick up papers regarding the final contestants when he saw the glint of glass out of the corner of his eye. Being of the paranoid sort, Hayate paused, lightening his breath. A jolt, a shiver, ran down his spine, a tell tale sign, as long as he was concerned, that he was being watched.

He followed the genin a steady twenty paces behind, keeping his pace light and his movement fluid. He had enough time to idly wonder where the ANBU border squads were, but he couldn't detract his attention from his quarry. When Kabuto stopped Hayate took up a position around the corner, his back against the cool stone of the building.

"Sand is ready to do its part in this alliance with Sound." Those were the words of two traitors. Two traitors in Konoha who posed a danger to the entire village. Hayate felt his knees creak as he got to his feet to tell the Hokage.

"It seems we have a rat." The voice was Kabuto's, but it sounded sinister, unlike the voice he had used in the chuunin exam preliminaries. Hayate's muscles tensed, his feet about to propel him towards the Hokage Tower.

"No… I'll do it. After all… it's just one little rat." Hayate was gone.

Baki caught up with him on the dome of the Kikyou Palace. As he drove his blade into Baki's shoulder he allowed himself a surge of thought that he could still win, still warn the village. But the windblades shattered it.

As he lay bleeding out upon the dome he vaguely noticed Baki spit in his direction before leaving. If he'd known things would turn out like this… he would have kissed Yuugao goodbye that morning instead of letting her sleep in. He would have proposed. And he would have loved her more.


	4. Our Distance and That Person

**Thirty Kisses Theme 04 - Our Distance And That Person**

Yuugao didn't know how it had happened. She had vowed to the Hokage to keep silent through the meeting with Sand to discuss the peace treaty. She had promised her squad she would not say a word while the casualty reports were being read. And most importantly, she had sworn on Hayate's name that she would not disrespect his memory. But watching his murderer speak of peace, speak of the casualty reports, speak of a treaty? It was too much, even for her.

"You bastard…" She whispered loudly, drawing the attention of the two ANBU squads nearest her own. Her lieutenant, the ANBU in the bird mask, put a hand on her shoulder in warning and placed his face near her ear.

"Uzuki-san, please don't make a scene." The man muttered, his grip on her shoulder tightening a little in warning. She angrily brushed the man's touch from her, her gloved hands unconsciously balling into fists as she fought to hold them straight by her side. Her mask covered her face thankfully, and her glare was hidden behind the sturdy white material.

"Sand would like to extend its apologies to the family and friends to those who lost their lives in the Sand-Sound attack, due to our carelessness in allowing our Kazekage to be killed and replaced by Orochimaru, many shinobi lost their lives. Sand feels it is our duty to offer our condolences and respect to the sixty three Leaf ninja killed in battle." Yuugao bit her lip, her teeth clipping the soft skin of her mouth hard enough to draw blood. Sand killed sixty four Leaf ninja! He isn't even acknowledging Hayate! Her mind was full of rage and anger, and it took all of the self control she possessed to keep from attacking the other jounin on the spot.

She turned her head slightly away from the front of the room where the sand delegates sat across from the Leaf Hokage and counsel, a podium between the two groups. Now it was time to sign the treaty. All of the jounin present would have to sign the peace treaty, whatever good that would do, and each of them would leave a drop of blood. To start the entire process Tsunade stood and approached the scroll, signing her name at the top and then neatly drawing blood from her thumb and pressing it down beside her name. The Sand jounin rose to do the same as the Leaf jounin filed into a line. There were no cheers, no cries of peace. That was for the common folk, who actually believed that this paper would hold the two villages together. Oh, it would bind them, for a time. But how long that time was could only be speculated. Yuugao chose not to dwell on that.

Her ANBU squad was behind her in the line, all of them tense and anxious. They were unsure now of their leader's actions, what she would do, seeing that the Sand delegates were standing behind the scroll with the Hokage now, shaking hands, offering greetings and words of trust and peace. All of it fake, but they did not relish the idea of Yuugao needing to be dragged off of Baki.

Her face was set as she removed her mask and wiped the blood from her chin in the same motion as she approached the scroll. Her mouth was a firm line of self control as she took up the pen and signed her name underneath the Hokage's and directly across from Baki's. She fought from shooting a glare at Baki as she whipped out a kunai as all the others had done to draw blood. However, instead of slicing a clean cut across her finger, Yuugao neatly widened the bite on her bottom lip, pursing her mouth together as she did so. Her ANBU squad, the Hokage, and the Sand delegates shot each other strange looks as she bent to kiss the paper beside her name, leaving the ruby red imprint of her lips beside the other signatures.

"Uzuki-san…" Her lieutenant held out an arm as if to stop her as she turned and began to leave the room. She brushed past him, replacing her mask upon her face and striding out of the hall with her head held high. Her self control only went so far, even if the temporary treaty did benefit the Leaf. She could never forgive Sand for the death of her lover. But perhaps, Yuugao thought as she strode out of the building, she had made Hayate proud after all.


	5. Ano Sa

**Thirty Kisses Theme 05 - Ano Sa...**

Hayate idly flipped through some of the cards in their holders. He was never one of the artistic types, and with an anniversary coming up, he was in dire straights. The third year anniversary, which was more important than the 2nd anniversary, and even more important than the 1st. Apparently they got more important as they went along.

He had almost narrowed it down to twenty cards when he noticed a familiar face. Mitarashi Anko was standing on the other side of the cards, holding one out in her hand.

"Hey… you know… this is a good one." Hayate tried to take a look, but the woman whisked it from his sight and began reading aloud.

"Thanks for the great sex, because if it didn't happen, this anniversary wouldn't either." Hayate blinked as Anko calmly read out the words. A woman shopping in the other aisle made a disapproving noise. Hayate was silent for a moment.

"Does it really say that?" He asked. Anko looked at him before one of her eyebrows arched.

"Hell no." She smirked, letting out a rich laugh. "You just looked so lost, I couldn't help it." She handed him the card. It was white, with a single red rose across the front. He opened it, reading the words inside. They were… poetic. Very lovely and poetic. Lots of loves and kisses and flowers. Definitely nothing he would have picked out on his own.

"I'm not very poetic." He mentioned, checking the price on the back. Anko nodded.

"I know. But trust me, she'll love it, even if she doesn't think you'd ever be able to rhyme like that." Anko gave him a thumbs up. "See you at the exams." Hayate waved as she left the small store.

She was right. Yuugao loved it.


	6. The Space Between Dream and Reality

**Thirty Kisses Theme 06 - The Space Between Dream and Reality**

By the time Yuugao was seven she knew that Santa Claus wasn't real, and neither was the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. Her parents bought the presents and stuck them under the tree when she was asleep. They also did the same thing with colorful eggs and money. She also knew that there was no such thing as a knight in shining armor, nor were there moon princesses and magical fish that granted wishes when set free. However, she thought these stories were still very entertaining, and read fairy tales to herself and sometimes others.

"Three months passed quickly away, and in that time the bamboo child had, wonderful to say, become a full-grown girl, so her foster- parents did up her hair and dressed her in beautiful kimonos." Yuugao read, the book nestled in her lap. The title 'The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon-Child' was partially hidden by her knee.

"How did she get from three inches high to full grown in three months?" Hayate piped up, sitting in front of her and listening attentively. The boy was visiting her house for the day, and Yuugao had decided to read her book to him after being shocked that he had never heard the popular story before.

"She just did." Yuugao said matter of factly, turning the page and continuing to read. Hayate however, seemed determined to interrupt her with comments about why the story couldn't possibly be true. Finally, Yuugao set the book down with a little huff.

"Hayate, it's just a story. We both know it's not true! You're supposed to pretend!" The young boy of eight crossed his arms in front of his chest and made a pout.

"But fairy tales are for girls!" He said, sticking out his bottom lip. "All they have is mushy stuff and love and kissing. Yuck!" Yuugao sighed. How characteristic of a boy. Standing, she set the book down on her dresser and headed over to a trunk at the foot of the bed. Hayate's curiosity overcame him and he peaked over his friend's shoulder only to be met with a pile of frumpy and lacy clothing.

"What's that?" He asked, pulling away as Yuugao began sifting through the clothes, throwing out a couple garments with enough force to require dodging.

"Well, since the fairy tales are so girly, we're going to play dress up." Yuugao came up with a garish purple and pink kimono and tossed it at Hayate, who caught it out of instinct. "You can be the princess."


	7. Superstar

**Thirty Kisses Theme 07 - Superstar**

"Can you see him? Oh my god, there!" The teenage girls squealed, pointing and gesturing at the handsome man walking past. Yuugao rolled her eyes at her classmates and returned her gaze to the notes she was studying with a sigh. Kunoichi classes were always so boring, even when their teacher bothered to show up and talk to them about methods of seduction and the art of undercover operations.

"Come on, Yuugao!" A girl her age lightly pushed her in the shoulder. "He's so handsome. Practically a celebrity!" The other girl threw another look out the classroom windows at the man walking past, giving the girls in the room a wink and wave as he did so.

"I don't really care about him. He's not so special." Yuugao answered, returning to her notes and trying to find her place.

"And who would _you_ rather kiss, hmm?" Her fellow chuunin teased. "Gekkou Hayate?" That had Yuugao's attention in the form of a glare, but the girl continued speaking, reckless. "I've seen you two after class sometimes, hmm? He sure coughs a lot, must make for some _lovely_ make-out sessions."

By the time she had finished speaking Yuugao was halfway out the door, notes tucked under one arm. The girl almost spat out her next words, angry at being ignored and not eliciting a rise.

"Where are _you_ going?" Yuugao shot a small smile over her shoulder, tossing her hair out behind her as she opened the door to leave.

"To go kiss my boyfriend."


	8. Our Own World

**30 Kisses Theme 08 - Our Own World**

Yuugao felt her spirit break when she stood on that roof, watching the dead body of her lover be bagged and carried away. She had experienced loss before, of course. Her genin team instructor had died on one of their early missions gone awry. Her mother, a medic-nin, had been killed in the Stone War when she was just a child. And more recently, her father had fallen while defending the Leaf from Cloud. But, while she knew those people, loved those people, she had never known them like she knew this man in front of her.

There are ways that shinobi do not make good parents. They are afraid to get too close to their children, for who knows when they might be killed. And the children in return try and forge bonds with their peers before their parents, for it is their peers they will fight alongside and entrust their lives.

You do not kiss your parents like you kiss your lover. You do not live in the same world as your peers as with your lover. You do not love your friends like you love your lover. You do not mourn your teachers like you mourn your lover.

And standing on that roof watching his body, Yuugao thinks of how cruel it seems that she was the first to see him. But at the same time, she thinks it would have been even crueler not to have been.


	9. 10

**Thirty Kisses Theme 10 - #10**

It was the night of their tenth anniversary, and he was dying. His lungs were blackened and his throat stripped dry and he was dying. The coughs wracked his body so violently that they had been forced to put him on a respirator, and a nurse had to come in to clean it of blood every half hour. She was by his bed holding his hand, running her fingers over his knuckles, over the gold band on his ring finger, soothing him as he died. She had said her goodbyes; they did it every night before sleeping, for they were ninja, and could die any day.

She had almost lost him before, the night he was cut open collar to hip by the sand jounin. But he had managed to struggle into the Hokage's office still, almost killing himself in the process of warning the village of the Sand-Sound alliance. Thanks to him, their casualties during the attack had been a third of what they estimated had they not been warned. The Third Hokage still reigned, though he was searching for a successor even now, having survived an assault by Orochimaru, who had been forced to retreat from the four ANBU squads surrounding their leader.

Hayate flat-lined at three in the morning on the day after their tenth anniversary. Yuugao held his hand, biting her lip to keep from crying. The news that he had brought to Konoha had saved it, but sometimes during the time his illness had taken a turn for the worst, she had wondered what it would be like if he had died that night twelve years ago. Would it have been easier to take if he had died suddenly, bled out on the top of that roof? She would be the one to come home to their son and tell him his father had died. But at least she could tell him now that he had loved him, and that she had held his hand when he went.


	10. Gardenia

**Thirty Kisses Theme 11 - Gardenia**

Yuugao had always thought flowers were pretty. The colors, the shapes, the delicate nature all combined to make them such precious little things. She would keep bouquets in her apartment, the colors illuminating a drab corner and bringing a bit more life in to a home occupied by a woman who dealt in death.

Her favorite color was red. She supposed this was because it was the color she most often saw. The color of death. The color of blood. She had always liked red flowers the best, probably because of that. She kept bundles of roses, gardenias, peonies, carnations, and other such things around her apartment when she was home. She hated the sight that would greet her when she came home, vases of flowers browned and wilting. Dead.

When she moved in with Hayate (well, technically he moved in with her, her apartment was bigger), you could still find the bouquets everywhere. Hayate would sometimes pick them for her, and the surprise of finding a gardenia on her pillow when she returned home was something she looked forward too every day.

Her disillusionment with flowers began when Hayate's condition began worsening. He had always had the cough. It was a constant thing, always in the background, the soft noise of his sickness. But the day he doubled over on his way down the hall, his shoulders shaking, his chest caving in with the force of the violent coughs, did she truly begin to hate the color red. The color of the blood on his mouth, his chin, the rose in his hand… it was the same.

Now that Hayate is dead she cannot abide the color red. It reminds her of the blood that spilled from his chest and dried across the roof. It reminds her of her lover doubled over on the floor, hand across his mouth, with blood leaking from between his fingers. And it reminds her of his blood on the rose, the red blending in to the petals and running down the stem.

She cannot abide the color red. It reminds her now of all that she has lost.


	11. Perfect Blue

**Thirty Kisses Theme - Perfect Blue**

When she came to visit his grave the sky was crying. The downpour has started at dawn and was still going strong, soaking anyone who dared venture out doors. But all of Konoha was outside today, coming to pay their respects to Sandaime at his funeral. The funeral wasn't just for the third Hokage, but all of the shinobi that had lost their lives in the brief Sand and Sound attack. That included her lover, Hayate.

But going to a mass funeral to mourn him seemed to her as if she was disrespecting his memory. He was her most important person, and she would pay her respects to him directly, not along with many others who had lost their lives. They deserved respect as well, but to her, Hayate was all that mattered now.

The white lotus flowers she had brought were still crisp and pure in appearance, despite the beating they had taken from the rain. Yuugao hugged them closer to her unconsciously, her feet sloshing through a puddle that had once been the field surrounding the memorial. She lowered her eyes, firming her resolve and clamping the lid tightly on her emotions.

Yuugao was not surprised to see Kakashi standing before memorial, his sharingan eye covered by his headband as usual. She knew he often came to pay his respects to Uchiha Obito. The man had been in the ANBU squad when she had first joined, but had left soon after. She knew he had been very talented.

She was silent as she stood near him, gazing at the memorial herself. Hayate's name was newly carved, about seven lines down from the name Uchiha Obito, which was beginning to fade from weather wear. It was good to see that at least the name would live on in Kakashi, if not clearly on the memorial.

Shifting the flowers in her arms, Yuugao stepped past Kakashi and knelt before the stone, placing the bouquet at its base before putting her hands together in prayer. Her thoughts were chaotic, she didn't know what to say. She just hoped Hayate found peace.

After exchanging words with Kakashi, Yuugao slowly made her way to the funeral. Her arms felt light without the flowers she had carried, and her side felt empty without Hayate walking beside her. She would have to learn to be alone again. The Sandaime's funeral was somber, and the rain was still cascading from the heavens in a silent tribute. She dropped one flower on the counter beside the many others and began to file out of the funeral with the other jounin, staring at the ground ahead of her. She stopped to look up however, when a man on her ANBU squad tapped her shoulder and pointed.

The rain was clearing fast, the gray clouds retreating and taking the weather with them. Sunlight was filtering down through the remnants of the rain clouds, dappling the shinobi below in soft rays. Yuugao smiled a little at the sight of the sky which had suddenly become so perfectly blue. Perhaps Hayate had found his peace after all.


	12. Invincible

**Thirty Kisses Theme 16- Invincible**

The Gekkou clan had their own doctor at the hospital in Konoha, a woman by the name of Fumiko. The elderly woman had been tending to the small clan for years and years, since she was first appointed as a medical ninja. She'd been treating their genetic illness for nigh on fifty years now, and telling the young ones had never been easy, no matter how many times she did it. They always thought they were invincible, that nothing could bring them down.

"Your illness is progressing at the usual rate… nothing abnormal about it." She had the medical records for this Gekkou son in her lap, at age seventeen it was thicker than her wrist. She was so used to seeing the words on the Gekkou files. Terminal. Tar. Constricted Breathing. Coughing. Fits. Blood in the Lungs. Water in the Lungs. Deceased.

"How long?" The young man asks her. She can tell his voice is straining to sound strong, to sound unconcerned. But she sees his hand squeeze tightly the smaller one in his, the young woman beside him looking sadly at his face.

"If the progression continues at this rate I expect a maximum lifespan of forty years." She said it bluntly, no softness, no attempts at comfort. The Gekkou clan knew what to expect, knew how to handle it. They just didn't know why a little over half of their children were born with this disease. Fumiko didn't know either.

"Alright." The man stood to go, the woman at his side doing the same. Fumiko looked her over. She had been introduced as the girlfriend, and Fumiko always tried to analyze those types. Most left when told of their prospective partner's life expectances, of what care they'd need later. This girl… Fumiko didn't know what she'd do.

The Gekkou boy opened the door and slowly left her office. The girl, however, hung back. She opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it, then opened it again.

"Thank you." She said, bowing to the doctor before she hurried out after her lover. Fumiko looked out the window of her office as Gekkou Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao left the hospital, the Gekkou's back straight, a small, comfort of a kiss on his cheek, his hand engulfed by a smaller pair.


	13. Say Ahh

**Thirty Kisses Theme 18 - Say Ahh...**

"Okay, say ahh…" Yuugao murmured, holding the thermometer loosely in her left hand and a bowl of steaming soup in the other. Hayate lay prone in their bed, the covers pulled up to his chin and a cloth over his brow, more color than usual in his cheeks due to his fever. He had taken sick a few days before and had been confined to the bed for the better part of that time. Apparently a nasty virus was floating about, and Hayate's immune system, already weakened by his chronic illness, had been an easy target.

"Is this really necessary?" Hayate asked, his voice hoarse from coughing. Yuugao smiled and popped the thermometer in his mouth as he spoke. ANBU skills and reflexes had many practical uses. Hayate rolled his eyes a little and positioned the medical instrument under his tongue as Yuugao sat down on the edge of the bed holding the hot soup in her lap and counting down. When the time had run up she removed the thermometer and shook it, eyeing the red bar in the middle of the clear glass tube.

"Hmm… looks like it's still over a hundred. You have to stay in bed for a while yet." She smiled a little as she said it, putting the soup bowl down on the end table and helping Hayate prop himself up for lunch. She fluffed the pillows absently, smiling all the while.

"Looks like you're enjoying yourself." Hayate said with a small smile, reaching over to grab his soup and beginning to devour it, albeit in a delicate manner. Yuugao couldn't help but smile a little broader as she hopped over to the other side of the bed and sat down beside Hayate, stretching her legs out.

"Well, why not? Think about it, how long has it been since we've had this much time together?" Yuugao said, counting Hayate's sick days off on her right hand. Hayate paused long enough to swallow his lunch before answering.

"We had that whole week where we blew off our sick days last year and went to the beach, remember?" He nodded and continued eating, obviously hungry. The woman beside him laughed a little, reaching over to grab a napkin and snatch a noodle from Hayate's shirt.

"I meant this year." The man made a little 'oh' noise in between swallowing his soup. Yuugao laughed again, situating herself a little closer to Hayate and resting her head on his shoulder. A few more moments went by in comfortable silence until he finally finished his lunch and sat the empty bowl back on the end table.

"You know, you're going to catch whatever I have if it's airborne, right?" Yuugao leaned over to plant a light kiss on her lover's cheek, smiling all the while.

"It means more time together, so why not?" She asked, only to be met with a smile from Hayate.

"Does this mean I can have another bowl of soup?"


	14. Violence

**Thirty Kisses Theme 21 – Violence:**

By the time she had reached chuunin Yuugao knew that there was a specific art to killing. There was finesse in the final blow, the way you held your weapon and the way you dispatched your enemy. The artist made their mark on the masterpiece in the strokes of their weapons, the pen and paintbrush for the canvas of a shinobi. An artist of death is something every elite shinobi strives to be, and Yuugao is filled with the creativity required for the job.

She paints her details carefully, always making sure they are at least slightly different from her last piece. Maybe she brushed the subject with a kunai this time, and a shuriken the next. If her last work ran screaming, perhaps this one would lie dead. Being an ANBU captain meant that she knew her trade quite well, and all other artist's who dealt in death were not wise to underestimate her. Such is a shinobi's life's work.

But it's when she comes home for the night, when Hayate greets her by the door, that she leaves her artist's mantle outside before stepping in. Because even though she made herself into a death dealer for her village and her loved ones, she allowed herself to think, just when she was with him, that there was a much more nobler art in love than violence.


	15. Cradle

**Thirty Kisses Theme 22 - Cradle**

At three o'clock in the morning, the only sound in her apartment in the rhythmic creaking of the cradle as she steadily moves it back and forth with the sole of her bare foot propped on its wooden edge. The small child inside is fussy, making half cries and hiccups, not quite full blown crying. She tries to soothe him, tries to keep the cradle swaying gently, but her son is stubborn, and insists on defying his bedtime.

The woman sighs softly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. It was enough that she was taking care of a child, and she was very relieved that she had been taken off duty for maternity leave. The bags under her eyes had grown more noticeable, and the lines on her face more pronounced over the months since her son's birth. But she didn't regret a moment of it, not once.

The young boy made a quite sob, his small fingers clenching and his tiny feet kicking. His mother leaned down to take him into his arms, lifting him from his cradle and to her breast for a feeding. The baby quieted instantly and suckled, content once more. And now the only sound in the apartment were the soft noises of the child, his mother rocking quietly in the rocking chair by the bedroom window. The moonlight shines in from the night outside her home, illuminating the thin black hair of the child and the skin of her breast. She glances down at her offspring, giving a soft smile.

As the child ceased its feeding, she drew her kimono closed once more and simple held him, rocking back and forth, back and forth in her rocking chair. She was still surprised by the child, as unsuspected as his arrival had been. Her line of work was so active that she usually didn't bleed monthly at all, let alone enough to tell if she was pregnant or not. The same job that kept her active also limited to swelling of her belly. What a shock she had experienced, going in for her annual clinic visit only to discover that she was with child, not a week after her lover's death. It had almost been too much to bear.

But she lived for her son now. And she smiled, thinking of how his father might have reacted, what he would say, do, and think about it all. Her son reminded her of the love she had shared with his father, and reminded her that it would never die, even though the man himself had been taken from her. Inclining her head, she kissed the baby softly, murmuring quietly, a lullaby her own mother had sung to her as a child.

At three o'clock in the morning, Uzuki Yuugao sung a lullaby.


	16. Candy

**Thirty Kisses Theme 23 - Candy**

One thing Hayate knows about children is that they like candy. He always did when he was a child himself, but growing up he began to lose his sweet tooth. When he was younger he had always enjoyed lollipops the most, mainly because the syrup coated his throat and eased his coughing. This gave his father the idea to spike his candy with medicine, which made him very wary of who he took candy from after that. But he supposed that was a life lesson in and of itself.

The one vestige of his childhood sweet tooth that had survived intact into adulthood was his penchant for unnatural amounts of sugar and cream in his coffee. After they moved in together Yuugao refused to wash his coffee mugs, insisting the caked sugar at the bottom was just too nasty. This baffled Hayate to no end even as he grabbed an old toothbrush and began to scrub away at the dry sugar caked on the walls of his cup. Women were weird sometimes.

That is why Hayate was puzzled when he awoke on the second of November to find a coffee mug wrapped in ribbon on the counter in the kitchen. A slip of paper in the cup proclaimed it to be stain resistant, and most importantly, impervious to sticking sugar and cream. He removed the bright green ribbon from the cup and looked it over. It was a simple green mug with a Konoha leaf on the front, but it did seem quite sturdy.

"So, do you like your birthday present?" Yuugao asked, leaning against the door frame of the kitchen in her pajamas, smiling smugly. Hayate grinned and opened the cupboard, taking out the coffee can.

"It's what I've always dreamed of." He replied with a short laugh, going over to the sink and preparing a pot of coffee for the occasion. Yuugao sat down at the breakfast table and watched him brew the coffee before he joined her, setting down his steaming mug and taking a seat beside her, picking up the parts of the paper she had already finished.

"Looks like I should be able to wash your mugs now, hmm? That sugar shouldn't stick to the sides now." She said, smiling a little as she tapped the rim of his cup with her finger. Hayate made himself a mock pout and propped his chin on his hand.

"And all this time I thought you liked sugar." It was Yuugao's turn to make a face, a light scowl painting her mouth.

"And whatever gave you that-" Hayate cut off her speech with a kiss, feeling her lips curve upwards into a smile. Only the need to breathe made Hayate break the kiss and return to his coffee mug, leaving Yuugao to blink in the after-glow.

"Now what was that about not liking sugar?" Hayate asked over the rim of his cup, smiling as his lover licked a trace of the sweet coffee from her lips.

"I said, whatever gave you the idea that I liked sugar?" She had a mischievous ring to her voice as she smiled as well, setting down the paper she had been reading and turning in her seat to face him fully.

"Is that a challenge?" Hayate set down his coffee mug as Yuugao smirked. Taking in the fact that she was still in her pajamas, his mind idly came to the conclusion that perhaps he should help her back to bed. Well… after he finished his coffee.


	17. Good Night

**Thirty Kisses Theme 25 - Good Night**

Sometimes she wonders what could have happened if they had switched places for that one moment of their lives. However, even though she and Hayate may have loved one another, they were also realists. They were both shinobi, and shinobi led very dangerous lives. Every single mission could be the last. You had to be prepared for your lover's death at any moment. Such was love between ninja.

Hayate had told her quite frankly on their first date that he didn't expect to live past forty. If his profession didn't kill him, his illness would. Yuugao had to keep that in mind even as their relationship got more serious. They talked of death often because it was something they had to do. Others may have considered that morbid, but it was a fact of life for them. Both Yuugao and Hayate had decided to leave all of their earthly possessions to each other for the sake of simplicity. While Yuugao's father was still alive, he didn't need her things, and both of Hayate's parents had passed from illness. Neither had siblings.

"Yuugao, when I do die, I'd like you to move on, okay? You're a beautiful woman, and you don't need to be tied down by my death." He had said once when they sat on the hill watching the stars. Yuugao had been sobered by that thought.

"Are you trying to say you don't want me to remember you?" She had asked, touching his arm lightly. He turned his head from the sky to look at her, a wane smile on his lips.

"Well, I'm not saying flowers wouldn't be nice." She let a small smile grace her features before rolling onto her back and stretching out, watching the stars twinkle distantly in the sky.

"Then, you should move on to. Though, if I die on a mission, I'd want a little more than flowers. A visit every now and then would be appreciated." Hayate coughed, muffling the noise with his hand. A cricket chirped behind them, and for a moment, lying on that hill alone with him, Yuugao had allowed herself the luxury of thinking they could maybe both grow old together. But it was a luxury neither of them could afford.

And it was a night just like that one that Yuugao found herself in front of the memorial that bore Hayate's name, a small bundle of flowers in her hand. Her thought drifted, perhaps picturing what the scene would have looked like had she been the one to die that night instead of him. What would have happened had Sand and Sound spies sliced open her chest and not his. Her name would be the one carved onto that cold stone, and he would be the one standing there with a flower and a cough. But that's just not the way things were.

She bent down to lay the flowers down in front of the stone and then stood, gazing at them forlornly. They were brightly colored wildflowers, picked on her way from the patrol field to the memorial. She supposed Hayate would have liked them. With one last look Yuugao turned to leave, looking up into the night sky and watching the moon kiss the stars.

Goodnight, Hayate…


	18. Overflow

**Thirty Kisses Theme 27 - Overflow**

Shinobi do not cry. The must not cry. ANBU especially are forbidden from showing any emotion on their faces, for they are the elite. They must set an example for all others, and they must bottle all feelings and hide them deep inside themselves. It is a hard existence.

And she is a good leader, a great ANBU, and a beautiful woman all in one. And she does not cry. She did not shed a single tear throughout her entire life as a shinobi. She did not cry when her jounin sensei was killed in front of her genin cell. She refused to let the tears form when her mother passed away the day after she made chuunin. And all through the wars she had been through, she did not cry.

Even more importantly, she did not cry at his funeral. As she laid the white flowers at the memorial for him, she blinked them back. As she vowed to pay back the enemy she was strong enough not to cry. But when she came home, everything hit her. She was expecting his presence, expecting him to be there. And he wasn't. She had the bed all to herself. His swords were hung in their cases, instead of by the door where he usually put them. His coffee mug wasn't in the sink waiting to be washed, but in the cupboard, still clean.

The next day Uzuki Yuugao went to the memorial to cry. She took off her mask and lightly kissed his name, Gekkou Hayate, on that stone cold memorial. The tears she had held back all her life spilled forth, overflowing from her pretty eyes. She cried for her teacher, her mother, and all the friends she had lost. But most of all, she cried for the man she loved.


	19. Wada Calcium CD3

**Thirty Kisses Theme 28 - Wada Calcium CD3:**

Birthdays for ninja are a little more important than with most civilians. Ask a shop owner how old she is and she'll probably tell you that it's either none of your business, or that it's rude to ask a lady her age. Ask a woman the same age, but ninja by occupation, and she will gladly tell you that yes, she is forty three, and still kicking, thanks for asking.

For ninja, a birthday is proof of one more year alive. One more year that you beat your enemies, and one more year of fulfilling your duty. You've done well, and you should celebrate. Most do. A ninja usually dies young, and you just have to live it up.

Yuugao had always found it funny that her lover's birthday was a day before her own, albeit a year before. They usually did something nice to celebrate on their own, and then something with friends. Every birthday was special, because it was another they had with each other, and each year was one more chance to live to the fullest.

But Yuugao didn't do much on her birthday anymore. She packed a lunch for two, along with some cough drops. She almost packed calcium pills by mistake, but she corrected herself and walked to the memorial. She prayed, and then ate, laying out Hayate's food as if he were right there with her. On this particular day, her twenty fourth, and yesterday his twenty fifth, she stood as the sun began to set, and watched as a breeze blew one of the cough drops against the memorial. Smiling, Yuugao repacked the food, leaving the cough drop and walking away.

Maybe next year she would celebrate with cake.


	20. The Sound of Waves

**Thirty Kisses Theme 29 - The Sound of Waves**

Hayate let himself relax, the sun bathing him in warmth where he lay on the beach. Yuugao was lying beside him, stretched out on her towel and humming to herself as she flipped through a short story collection. The soft lull of the waves was soothing, and Hayate was enjoying the fresh sea air, for it was gentle on his lungs.

"Ah, this vacation was the best idea we ever had!" Yuugao said suddenly, putting away her book and turning over, supposedly to tan the other side of her. Hayate turned to watch her, admiring her as she lay sunbathing.

"We're out of sick days for the rest of the year though." He mentioned, drawing a chuckle from Yuugao. She put a hand over her face to block the sun from her eyes and looked over at him.

"Well, we'll just have to not get sick, hmm?" Hayate smiled, shaking his head a little with suppressed laughter. He looked behind them at the small cottage and took it all in. The seaside home had come into his possession after his parent's deaths, through their wills. He fondly remembered trips taken to the home when he was younger, for all of the Gekkou clan with the disease found themselves feeling healthier in the fresh air of the ocean. He breathed deeply, free of the usual cloying feeling in his lungs. He had always entertained the idea of retiring to this place if he ever lived that long. Glancing back at his lover, he wondered if that would ever be possible. They were both ninja after all.

"Hayate, let's go swimming some!" Yuugao was standing, holding out her hand and smiling broadly. She had tied up her hair and was watching him expectantly.

"And then we can build a sandcastle." He said, standing up as well and taking her smaller hand in his own. They started at a walk, but Yuugao soon broke into a run that ended up as a full fledge race to the surf. As they both splashed into the water they were laughing freely. Yuugao scooped up a handful of water and tossed it at him, and thus a splash war began.

Hayate let himself enjoy the moment, thinking that even if they were shinobi, even if their lives were destined to be short, he could at least enjoy the moment and enjoy the now. Because right then they were just a couple at the beach, a pair of lovers in the ocean. And as he took her in his arms and kissed her, tasting the salt and sea on her lips, he knew that he was truly happy.


End file.
